Can a Word 07 .dotm template be opened (as a doc) in Word 03?

[Paul B]

I've been given a Word 07 .dotm template with some macros on it,
and I want to open it to view/copy the macro code into my
normal.dot, but Word 03 doesn't want to process it correctly.

I get a dialog asking me to choose the encoding scheme that best
renders the document. None of them crack the binary characters.
Then, a 145k template loads showing almost 1000 pages.

Is there any way to read this thing?

Thanks much,
p.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Do you have the compatibility pack for Office 2007 installed? If so, have
you tried to select the relevant entry in the file conversion dialog box?

If you do not have it, you can download the compatibility pack from:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

An alternative would be to down load a trial version of Word 2007 and use
that to open the template so that you can get access to the code.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Paul B]

Doug, I didn't even know there was a compatibility pack. I
installed it, and its service pack, but nothing has changed. When
I drag and drop the .dotm file onto the idle Word app, I still
get the dialog asking for the optimum character encoding, but
nothing renders the file correctly.

I think tellingly, when I try to load the file via File/Open,
there is no filter for the .dotm template. It seems nothing has
changed, whereas I had expected additional input filters.

Thanks,
p.

 

[Graham Mayor]

To open a Word 2007 macro enabled template you need Word 2007. See also
http://www.gmayor.com/Problems_opening_2007_docs.htm
The compatibility pack does not provide compatibility for 2007 templates.
The 2007 template is in fact a zip file containing XML elements.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Paul B]

Ok, even on reboot - my last hope - that seems to be the case.

Thanks,
p.

 

[Tony Jollans]

The Compatibility pack is not designed to provide full compatibility with
everything 2007 - simply to allow users to share straightforward Word 2007
format documents without them all having to have Word 2007 installed. One
could argue a case for almost any individual limitation not being there but
a line has to be drawn somewhere. You will find similar problems, for
example, with encrypted Word 2007 documents.

 

[Paul B]

The Compatibility pack is not designed to provide full compatibility with
everything 2007 - simply to allow users to share straightforward Word 2007
format documents without them all having to have Word 2007 installed. One
could argue a case for almost any individual limitation not being there but
a line has to be drawn somewhere. You will find similar problems, for
example, with encrypted Word 2007 documents.

Yes, I can see both sides of the argument, and there has to be a
cutoff point somewhere. Not that I place a whole lot of trust in
MS, but it's not hard to imagine possible technical reasons for
this particular limitation.

p.